


Misfortune's Daughter

by ButWhatIfImagines



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Gen, Loss of Trust, Mentions of Animal Experimentation - Freeform, Non-Graphic Violence, mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 06:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16718476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButWhatIfImagines/pseuds/ButWhatIfImagines
Summary: When Winston reached out to you, you expected a lot of things, but you didn’t expect this…





	Misfortune's Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> _Hello! Congrats on the new blog! Could you maybe write if Moira had a daughter who she raised in blackwatch? Like Genji And Mccree were her brother, a Gabe was like a dad to her? She could join recalled overwatch and on a missions she’s with her bros and see’s what has become of her mother and her father figure, becoming horrified? Thanks for taking time to read this!_
> 
> Cross-posted to our Overwatch imagines blog on tumblr.

You couldn’t tell if the tiny dropship was the one rocking or you as you gulped loudly in your seat. Something about this mission was rubbing you the wrong way, and you couldn’t tell why.

Sitting across from you was an attentive Genji, his visor in hand as his warm eyes mirrored your worried ones. He softly said your name and tilted his head to the left, as if measuring your anxiety. “Is something the matter?”

“Huh?” You snapped to attention with a few rapid blinks. “Oh, no. I’m fine.” Playfully wrinkling your nose, you looked to Jesse, who was buckled in beside Genji. “Maybe it was something I ate.”

“Hey, now,” Jesse snorted. “I make a mean bowl of chili, but not  _that_ mean.”

“Do not try to change the subject,” Genji said flatly. “Your shoulders have been tense since we neared the lab.”

“I… okay,” you sighed, fingers gripping the belts that held you safely in place. “I have a bad feeling about tonight. What if we get arrested?”

“We’ll be fine, sweet pea,” Jesse reassured you. “Winston said mission’s simple. Talon’s been in the area, and he’s sure that the old university lab is where they’ve set up shop. Just get in, get the teach, and get out.”

“The teach” was one Michael Adams Yun, an infamous biochemistry professor who wrote extensive papers on the remote control of (involuntary) organisms.

News of his surreptitious – and overwhelmingly controversial – research exploits ended up getting broadcasted around the world. Ignoring every ethical code one could think of, Yun coerced his students to volunteer as subjects for his experiments, leaving them entirely at his will time and time again. The illegality of it all aside, the local university attracted so much ire for its lack of oversight that it could do nothing else but fire him after paying millions out in damages to his victims.

Although Yun was (supposed to be, at least) in prison, the university was forced to close after a string of suspicious, uncontrollable fires across campus – save for the laboratories. What the public didn’t know was that the prison reported Yun missing months ago, but Overwatch intelligence heavily suggested that Talon snuck him out, and have been collaborating with him since to recreate his progress.

You could only draw your lips in a thin line in response as you suddenly heard the pilot’s voice over the intercom. “We’re here. Stealth mode still active. Ladders deployed. Ready for your descent.”

Looking through the small window to the seemingly-abandoned building below, you felt anxiety rise in your chest as you adjusted your cap. This wasn’t your first rodeo, but after discovering that Winston was trying to rebuild Overwatch, you were worried that the Petras Act would eventually catch up to you. Still, you had a mission to do, and knowing that Genji and Jesse were beside you made things a lot easier.

The three of you descended the ladder as quietly as you could, thankful the dropship’s engines weren’t roaring overhead.

“Area’s clear,” Jesse said to your right, weapon already drawn.

Genji paused, as if listening for something, then went to a door on the roof. Much to your surprise, it was left propped open with a brick. Though he had replaced his visor, you had a strong hunch that his eyes were narrowed in thought. “Someone has been here recently. Perhaps they come up here often.”

“Don’t matter,” Jesse said, trudging ahead. “Time to go down.”

Most of the lights leading down the stairwell and main halls of the building were either dimmed or off. The soft red glow of incubators filled one room, but you didn’t let your eyes linger for long as you followed Genji and Jesse.

Jesse held up his fist.  _Stop._

You firmly gripped your pistol, pointing it to the ground as the three of you took a quick glance around a corner. The hushed sound of whispers came from somewhere down the hall, and a piercing bright light peeked out from under a door. Curling your toes in your boots, you took a deep breath and continued down the hall with them.

Stopping once more against the wall, and right next to the door, Jesse signaled something to your other partner. As Genji quietly slunk against the wall, he looked through the small square window of the door. It was unlocked, and once he felt it was clear enough, he rushed into the lab first.

Jesse went in second, then you. Genji had quickly worked through three lab technicians – not killing them, but efficiently knocking each of them out before anyone else could be alerted of your presence.

Looking around, you noticed you were surrounded by test tubes and cages of writhing mice. They looked like they were in pain, and it made your stomach turn on itself. You then quickly took a moment to look farther down the lab. It was massive, and seemed to stretch on for at least half the building’s length. Some areas were blocked off with medical curtains, and other hunks of equipment seemed repurposed for more  _involved_  procedures. A staircase wounded itself upwards at the far end of the lab, with a dim purple light billowing out from above. Something about that left you uneasy, and you couldn’t bring yourself to stare.

Hearing Genji say your name, you turned and saw a guard walk in unannounced. The Talon insignia on each of his shoulders confirmed your collective suspicion that they were involved, and Jesse wasted no time lunging for the armored thug as he readied to call for reinforcements.

“Trespassers in Lab 2—” the guard gurgled into his mic just as Jesse gave him a swift kick to the chest. The guard buckled backwards and before he could raise his voice again, Genji had already cut him down.

“Move!” you yelled, already zipping throughout the lab in search for evidence of Yun’s whereabouts.

The sound of boots and muffled voices followed you three from outside the lab, triggering a surge of adrenaline through you. Three guards were poised against you in the next room, rifles aimed directly at your faces while hapless scientists remained stunned in the back.

You immediately fired off with your pistol, realizing that the luxury of discretion had long since crumbled. Two guards down, but the third—

Jesse kicked the grunt’s legs out from under him, and he stumbled in a daze, blindly firing his rifle up at the ceiling as he fell. The guard shouted a string of curses as his helmet rolled off his head, stopping with a hard  _clink_  against the wall.

Using the hilt of his blade to deliver a quick – and lethal – jab to the back of the guard’s skull, Genji wasted no time to roll the body out of the way.

Before the three of you were able to proceed farther into the lab, a dreadful chill filled the air, followed by the growl of a voice behind you.

“I should have known you two would be involved,” it said, sounding like slabs of metal grinding against each other. “It’s time to put you both down like the lost dogs you are.”

As you spun to look back at the main door, you saw a menacing figure dressed in black, his mask cold and emotionless.

The Reaper.

His hollow eyes were focused on Jesse and Genji, and they seemingly carried a hint of familiarity in their resentment. He seemed to look past you as if you were a nobody.

Jesse said your name and straightened his firing arm towards Reaper without hesitation. “Go,” he barked, firing off a round. “We got this. Go and find Yun!”

Reaper’s head turned to you, almost like he just finally recognized you from another life, as Jesse fired off his Peacemaker. Ripping your soles off the ground, you shook off the fear that thumped in your chest and sprinted towards a spiral staircase on the other end of the massive lab.

From over your shoulder, you briefly saw Reaper dissolve in a cloud of black smoke. He circled around the boys, like a shark circling its prey, and laughed. “You missed,” he taunted. An exchange of calculated gunshots rang in your ears as you continued to bolt ahead, the ricochet of bullets bouncing off stainless steel equipment leaving a tightness in your chest.

Your trek was suddenly cut short as a familiar laugh echoed down the stairs. Feeling your heart thump in your throat, you skidded to a halt and furrowed your brows as the shadow of an uncoordinated, groaning figure in a battered white coat hobbled down the steps.

“H-Help…” the person groaned as they came into view, blindly reaching outwards.

“Professor…  _Yun?_ ” You could barely catch the confusion that marked your voice as he limped towards you, twitching and uncoordinated like a partially crushed bug.

There seemed to be purple fibers woven throughout his skin, like ribbons threading a puppet together, that occasionally glowed and contracted with every tremor. His eyes were unfocused and empty, but full of misery all the same. The sight of his condition made your stomach turn, and you frantically took a step back, not sure if you wanted to fire at him out of pity or fear.

Casualties, you expected. But whatever  _this_ was…?

Oh,” said a familiar voice overhead. “ _Mo leanbh_.”

The word wasn’t able to pass the chatters of your teeth as everything else fell away to silence. “M-moth—?”

Your  _mother._

Tall and poised as you remembered her, she flicked her hand and let Yun’s body drop to the floor, leaving him as a crumpled mass of agony before your feet. Reflexively taking a step back, you held a hand to your mouth before shaking off the disgust. “Dr. Yun, are you—“

“Don’t mind him, dear,” Moira said, her voice flat and unfeeling. She kept her half-lidded eyes focused on you, almost as if she were sizing you up.

So many questions ran through your mind, but all you could choke out was a broken “ _why?_ ”

“He had a sudden change of heart,” she said, unceremoniously stepping around his body. “Said  _I_  was going too far, threatened to go back and shut this operation down. Funny, when he was the one who pioneered  _all of this._ ” She extended her arms, gesturing to the laboratory around her as the fighting died down in the back.

You were trying to find it in you to yell, to shame your mother for turning her back on you, on everything you believed she would be.

But you only choked as she raised her chin at you, waiting impatiently for a response. “I must admit, it is a surprise to see you here. Last I heard, you were researching blood type conversion in London, isn’t that right? Did the  _good scientist_  call you to arms, then? To fight his schoolyard wars for him in the middle of the night?”

“So, you have been…” Your voice trailed in disbelief as Moira’s eyes looked over your shoulder.

“You could join me, darling,” Moira offered, the corner of her lips slightly upturned.

“And do what?” you spat. “Play god like this?”

Genji yelled your name in the subsiding din, and you spun around to see the Reaper swooping towards you.

You reflexively dipped down, landing a swift uppercut to his chin with strength you didn’t know you had. He grunted loudly with a curse, his mask clattering to the floor to your feet. As he started recoiling back into a flurry of smoke, you tentatively stepped towards Jesse and Genji.

The boys, equally bruised and battered, steadied you as the Reaper recollected himself, rematerializing beside Moira with his head down. His fists were dangerously clenched, his shoulders squared like he was about to face something he hoped he’d never have to.

Moira’s eyes were leveled on him - measured, almost…  _concerned?_ But not quite.

Paralyzed in the suspense, you wondered why the black-clad mercenary didn’t punish you for the assault. His anonymity was always the most precious thing to him, and with that compromised, it was odd to see him do nothing but stand beside your mother.

Jesse stepped forward protectively. “Looks like you’ve been beat,” he said, gun in hand. “I’d say it’s about time to give it up.”

“Always a brat,” the Reaper sneered, slowly lifting his head. “Always trying to get the last word. Always biting off more than you can chew.”

Your heart fell to your chest as a familiar face frowned before you. “… Gabriel?”

His eyes were almost black, his skin decaying and cracked like old leather. There was something unsettling about the way he looked at you - like he died a thousand times and thought of you every time he came back to life.

The realization of his identity dawned on you, and your knees buckled. You crashed to the floor and wailed, your pistol sliding down across the tile.

 _Mother_ killing a man was heavy enough, but Gabriel…? Becoming whatever  _this_  was…?

Bells rung in your ears as you heard a shouting match above you. Jesse was poised, ready to kill Gabriel where he stood, while Genji snarled on and on about trust and abandonment.

In the pit of your stomach, in between all this, you felt yourself mourning all over again.

“Why did you leave me? Why work for  _Talon_?” you sobbed to them. “Why–?”

“You see? She’d never understand,” Moira said clinically to Gabriel, whose dark eyes softened when they met yours.

“Not now, Moira,” he growled, raising his shotguns at Jesse and Genji. “Stay back. This place is rigged to blow, and we each have a detonator.” The safety of his left shotgun clicked off as he pointed it at your grieving form. “Get her out of here if you want her to stay alive.”

“And if we don’t?” Jesse snarled, rolling the dice on a potential bluff.

“I’m not worried about dying,” Gabriel said as he replaced his mask, his voice harsh and grating. “But something tells me none of you can survive an explosion big enough to take this whole place down. I’ve done it once before. Can you say the same?”

Moira stood with a smile. They had a way out.

You three wouldn’t have the same unless you took Gabriel’s advice now.

“ _Damn it!_ ” Jesse grit his teeth before turning to Genji in a quick, but infuriated, understanding.

They scooped you up to your feet as you shook your head. “Mom, Gabe–” you sputtered as they forced you towards the door. “I loved you– I loved you!”

* * *

Moira’s nostrils flared as she followed Gabriel out the back way, her index finger hovering over the dangerously orange button of a detonator. He was still tense, but firm in his path. “I don’t care about the other two, but we won’t mention  _her_ to the Council,” Gabriel warned. “Understand?”

“I have no intention of jeopardizing my  _progeny’s_ well-being,” Moira replied somewhat sarcastically. “Her ongoing research is rather valuable. But if she interferes with my work again, it won’t be the Council’s reaction you’ll have to worry about.”

Gabriel remained silent for the rest of the journey back, and watched as explosive fires consumed the lab with red in his eyes.

* * *

Jesse was piloting the dropship back towards base while Genji helped you calm down. “I always wondered,” you gulped. “I always wondered what happened. And now…”

“There is no pain like betrayal,” Genji soothed you, letting you squeeze his hands through the motions. “But they are not the only family you have.”

You knew you weren’t alone, but in this moment, despite Genji’s consolation, you never felt lonelier. Desperately, you tried to tune out the roars of the collapsing building behind you as a series of quick, bombastic explosions drowned out the night, and left you filled with grief.


End file.
